Tenn. Closing Obamacare Program in December Due to Financial Issues

Tennessee’s Obamacare co-op said Wednesday that it will close at the end of December — becoming the sixth of 23 plans created under the Affordable Care Act to flop in the past year.

The Community Health Alliance, a co-op with 27,000 members, said that it reached its decision "after careful analysis of the company's current and future financial condition" and "lengthy discussions" with federal and state regulators, The Washington Post reports.

Last month, the federal government warned Tennessee officials of financial issues with Community Health, The Washington Examiner reports. Among them were failing to pay agents and brokers, as well as rising patient complaints.

Kentucky last week decided to close its Obamacare co-op amid financial issues, according to the Examiner.

The Affordable Care Act of 2010 created the co-ops as a way to increase competition on the insurance marketplace exchanges.

They have, however, been plagued by financial troubles since going online. The programs initially offer lower premiums to boost enrollment — but end up not having enough money to pay claims.

In the case of Community Health, the insurer raised its rates by 44 percent, the Examiner reports.

Community Health stopped signing up new customers last winter before the Obamacare open-enrollment period ended, the Post reports. The move was due to fears by officials that the co-op's spiraling growth would make it hard to pay healthcare claims if it grew any further.

But the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the programs, wrote Community Health about its problems with processing transactions because of a software vendor, according to the Examiner.

The issues caused a huge spike in customer complaints.

As of last December, more than $2 billion in federal funds had been paid out to Obamacare co-ops, the Examiner reports.

Tennessee's Obamacare co-op said Wednesday that it will close at the end of December - becoming the sixth of 23 plans created under the Affordable Care Act to flop in the past year.
The Community Health Alliance, a co-op with 27,000 members, said that it reached its...